An international group of scientists has found a new long-term consequence of coronavirus infection, which affects the eyes. With the so-called long-term COVID-19, there is damage to the nerve fibers and an increase in the number of dendritic cells in the cornea – the transparent part of the eyeball involved in the light effect. This is reported in an article published in British Journal of Ophthalmology.
40 people who had sled to COVID-19 took part in the study, and 30 people as control. All subjects passed a survey about the symptoms of long-term COVID-19, and they also conducted a confocal microscopy of the cornea of the eye for a quantitative estimate of the density of nerve fibers (CNFD), the density of the branches of the corneal nerve (CNBD), the length of the cornea nerve fibers (CNFL) and the total density of mature and immature Dendritic cells.
It turned out that patients with neurological symptoms after four and twelve weeks after acute COVID-19 had lower density of nerve fibers, their length and density of branches. In addition, they have observed an increased density of dendritic cells compared with the control group. In patients without neurological symptoms also had a relatively high density of dendritic cells.
How to conclude scientists, changes in the cornea of the eyes can serve as a reliable marker of long-term post-person syndrome.